A documentary about the WWII aircraft the Beaufighter, the crews who maintained them and the thousands who helped produce them in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The historic significance of the Beaufighter is immense, as along with the Kittyhawk, it was Australia's choice as its frontline attack aircraft. It was this craft that performed effectively in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, when the Allies attacked a Japanese landing party on March 3, 1943. One historian states that this battle was "the decisive aerial engagement of the war in the South West Pacific". The Beaufighter proved to be one of the most successful strike aircraft in the Second World War. Fast, robust, quiet and deadly, they were nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by the Japanese. The indefatigable crews faced the rapidly advancing Japanese Imperial Forces at the northern gates of Australia. This story is based on RAAF 30 & 31 Attack Beaufighter Squadrons and was previously released by the 30 Squadron RAAF Association as "Whispering Death: Beaufighter, forgotten warhorse."
ake off on a breathtaking journey in Over Alaska as you soar above the vast landscapes of the 49th state. Go face-to-face with Mount McKinley and fly over the craggy crevasses of electric blue glaciers. Join kayakers as they navigate icy waters. Then, feel the wind sting your cheeks as you speed past icebergs and along the Iditarod, the worlds most famous sled race. Touch down and experience Alaska's abundant wildlife from bears to whales through the lens of an accomplished and often daring photographer. Don't forget to stop and sniff the wildflowers! Over Alaska, previously seen on public television, takes you from Anchorage, a modern city in the middle of six enormous mountain ranges, to the abandoned mining camp Kennecott, and gives you an insider's look at the state's history, heritage, and culture.
A couple mysteriously vanish after a romantic evening under the stars... A teenager disappears on her way home from school... A university graduate goes missing whilst holidaying in London... From the early 1970s to the mid-80s, scores of ordinary Japanese disappeared without a trace, many of them from beaches and remote villages along the Japan Sea coast, others from Tokyo, London and Madrid. After decades of speculation, it was finally revealed in 2002 that these ordinary Japanese citizens had in fact been abducted by North Korean spies as part of a bizarre and sinister plot of espionage by the hard-line, communist dictatorship of Kim Jong Il. From the last front of the Cold War to the new battle against the 'Axis of Evil', Kidnapped! tells the extraordinary story of the Chimura, Yokota and Arimoto families - some of the unfortunate victims of a terrifying abduction campaign by North Korea... Written by Melissa Kyu-Jung Lee
As world oil reserves decline, the US and other world powers are competing for African oil. US energy and foreign policies have now merged: they militarise choke points and oil-producing countries that can be loyal to the US. Currently 14% of US oil comes from Africa, while experts predict that America's own national oil supply will run out in eight years. Thus securing an energy supply is a top strategic priority in an oil-hungry world, which explains the sudden interest from America, Europe, China and Japan for Africa. Under the guise of the wars against 'terror' and 'poverty' the US is setting up military bases in West Africa and planning for a possible conflict with Europe and China.
A man on the street sets out to find out about climate change.
In 1984 4000 buried terracotta warriors were discovered in Jiangsu Province, China. They were an army – infantry, archers, charioteers and horses. But they were disorderly warriors. They'd been interred carelessly, and in great haste. Archaeologists Wang Kai and Qiu Yongsheng suspected they were the guardians of the tomb of a long-ago king. But which king? Where was his tomb? And why were the warriors in such disarray?
We’re in the middle of a climate of religious groups seeking to influence our airwaves. The Festival of Light has claimed victory over a review of Californication by the Australian Media and Communications Authority. And Hillsong is supposedly pulling the strings behind Australian Idol’s finalists. So have we really come much further than in 1971 when conservatives were outraged over the publication of “The Little Red Schoolbook?”
Starting and ending in Lebanon, August 2006, this film takes us through the bloody terrain of the Middle East over the past six years. In May 2000 Israel withdrew from Lebanon. In October 2000 the 2nd Intifadah broke out, after the complete failure of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This film follows, analyzes and tells the events from that time up until today. Speaking with politicians, decision makers, and leading players involved in the making of our history, this film reaches behind doors into the arena of the making of policies. Among others the film follows the radicalization in the West Bank and Gaza, and the death of the Israeli Peace Camp, the Disengagement of the Gaza strip and the rise of the Hamas to government, it chronicles the process, and explains it, it goes back in time, but is poignantly timely. Emmy Award winner Dan Setton manages to clarify and introduce a new understanding to the infamous bloody labyrinth of the Middle East.
This documentary provides an in-depth look into the world of Google and how it is achieving its goals. However, it also investigates whether Google is aware of the responsibility it has, being the guardian to the entire world’s information, including personal information about its users. The program also visits the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California and its London offices and Vint Cerf, named ‘the father’ of the Internet, explains the inner workings of Google as a company. Since 2004, Cerf has been working for Google, helping them to develop new applications for the Internet. This documentary reveals Cerf’s view on the development of the Internet and on the role Google plays in today’s world.
For more than 10 years they have defied the laws of gravity; climbing walls, leaping between buildings and creating a new athletic code rooted in discipline, self sacrifice and physical endurance. They are the Yamakasi, seven young men from different ethnic backgrounds, who grew up in the poor housing projects of Paris and created "the Moving Style", a style of free-form athletics that transforms their oppressive, concrete environment into a place of fantasy, possibility and play. Taken from the Congolese dialect Lingala, Yamakasi means "strong spirit, strong body, and strong man". The men who have adopted it share the values of friendship, honesty, humility and courage as they discover their weaknesses and learn to overcome them. The Yamakasi are Charles Perriere, from Central Africa, Vietnam-born Chau Belle Dinh, Chau's brother, Williams Belle, Guylain N'Guba-Boyeke, from Zaire, Malik Diouf, from Senegal, Italian-Frenchman Laurent Piemontesi, and Yann Hnautra, whose mixed ancestry includes parents from Melanesia and Reunion. Yamakasi follows the lives and dreams of the men as they negotiate a new challenge, a period of profound change and conflict. The skill and daring of the Yamakasi have won them success and a lucrative place in the entertainment world, but they did not develop as a showbiz act. Their message and their sport are rooted in the hard realities of the projects and conflicts arising from their success have a deep emotional impact on the members
Sibel Edmonds, a 32-year-old Turkish-American, was hired as a translator by the FBI shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 because of her knowledge of Middle Eastern languages. She was fired less than a year later in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches to her supervisors that could have prevented those attacks.
Determined to strike a symbolic blow to US morale, Germany made plans to fly fighter planes into Manhattan skyscrapers in an eerie premonition of Osama bin Laden's deadly attack. With Hitler convinced that such a psychological strike could have brought down his rival superpower, contemporary witnesses and archive material combine to examine the plot's origins in full. Hitler's War On America provides you with a terrifying insight into Hitler's psyche and reveals the original construction plans that show the extent of his destructive fantasy. Could the 'America Bomber' really have changed the outcome of the war? Find out in Hitler's War On America.
Documentary providing a rare insight into the world of high-class call girls. The UK's sex industry is booming, and more women are turning to prostitution than ever before. Many ply their trade via personal websites in hope of attracting a certain type of client. The programme features interviews with prostitutes from all walks of life including a glamorous twenty-something, an ex-city banker, a married mother of four and a university student.
"No Way Get F*#ked, F*#k Off!" is a fly-on-the-wall account of an iconic Australian band's uneasy reconciliation. Thirty years ago The Angels were kings of the Australian rock scene. Eight and a half years ago lead singer Doc Neeson walked out of the band. One year ago he and the rest of the original members were talking through lawyers in a bitter legal battle over naming rights. And then Doc's manager David Edwards had an idea. Instead of tearing each other apart, why don't they just put the band back together again? That was the start of an uncertain journey as the five original members Doc Neeson, John & Rick Brewster, Chris Bailey and Buzz Bidstrup try to re-discover the magic that made the legend. "No Way Get F*#ked, F*#k Off!" documents the combustible reconciliation of one of Australia's most famous rock bands The Angels, as the original members attempt to leave their baggage at the door and rekindle old friendships on camera and on stage.
In Afghanistan’s new political landscape, US and Australian forces, aligned against the Taliban and their terrorist allies, find themselves in an uneasy relationship with the drug lords who control much of the world's opium cultivation and heroin production. After a brief lull in production in the last year of the Taliban, the current opium crop is one of the largest ever. How are the world's drug control authorities responding to this fact of life in Central Asian life? Can the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan take the place of the opium trade – currently the mainstay of the economy? How will the United States resolve a dilemma that pits the war on terror against the war on drugs?
As the popularity of virtual worlds explodes Alter Ego weaves in and outof both the real and virtual lives of a cast of fascinating charactersin the virtual world of Second Life - a world that gives people aplatform to explore their darkest desires or their simplest needs.
Honeybee Blues tells the story of the world’s disappearing honeybees and the efforts of Australian scientist Dr Denis Anderson to save them from annihilation.
Using archival footage and dramatic re-enactments, this documentary deals with the immediate aftermath of the 1918 armistice that brought World War I to an end. From January to July 1919, the Paris Peace Conference dealt not only with issues related to Germany but with the thorny issue of national boundaries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. From this conference emerged Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia; the annexation of parts of Germany by other countries; the creation of Iraq; and the transfer of German colonies in Africa and China to new colonial masters. It also led to the creation of the League of Nations, championed by President Woodrow Wilson but which the US never joined. When they finally dealt with the issue of war reparations, they imposed a payments schedule on Germany that many believe provided the underpinnings of World War II.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker David Bradbury follows Australian photojournalist Philip Blenkinsop on a heart-pounding journey through Asia's chaotic cities and deadly jungles. Known in the business as a 'concerned photographer', Blenkinsop is the last of a dying breed, going to extremes to expose human rights abuses and forgotten wars in south-east Asia. This level of commitment makes him one of the world's top war and conflict photographers, his images winning many awards, yet he is hardly known in
Mary Rodwell is one of the world's leading alien abduction counsellors, and is in demand all over the world for her expert extraterrestrial advice. But her beliefs have come at a cost, her husband left and it is now impacting on her relationship with her son, Chris, a self-confessed alien sceptic. Can she convince her own son about her out-of-this-world beliefs, and save her most precious relationship of all?
This fascinating film is a medical detective story, which looks at the story of Kuru (also known as ‘laughing sickness’) a degenerative neurological disorder found predominately in Papua New Guinea’s Fore people. Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery follows Australian scientist and the world’s leading authority on the disease, Michael Alpers as he retraces his groundbreaking 1962 pioneering research trip deep into the jungles of Papua New Guinea. The documentary takes its audience into a mysterious world of sorcery, cannibalism and tribal conflict. Stranger than fiction, research into Kuru revealed a chain of discoveries, which turned scientific understandings upside down and resulted in two Nobel prizes. This film is an anthropological study not to be overlooked.
Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton works with many clients who have disabilities. Her work has become the subject of the latest documentary from award-winning director Catherine Scott and producer Pat Fiske. Filmed over a three-year period, Scarlet Road follows Rachel in her relationship with John, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 26 years ago, and Mark, a client with cerebral palsy. It reveals the therapeutic aspects of human touch and sexual intimacy. This unique documentary gives voice to two men generously sharing moments of sexual self-discovery.
The sexual revolution of the '70s allowed women to claim their right to pleasure and to better know their bodies. However, 30 years on, female orgasm remains mysterious to a lot of people. MA (S,A,N)
Is prostitution becoming an acceptable career choice? Apparently more and more young women are turning to high-end prostitution to finance their expensive taste for lavish goods.
Hailed as the great sexual liberator of women in the early 1980s, the sexually-active world embraced the G-spot. But to many contemporary women the exact location remains elusive.
An exploration of the history of the vibrator. Through a group of sexpert characters, the documentary uncovers the socially camouflaged sex toy - hidden in the underwear drawer since it was invented over 120 years ago. The program reveals a social and sexual history that some people would prefer remained a secret.
At a time when Muammar Gaddafi'’s long reign is coming to a bloody end, Antoine Vitkine’s brand new documentary tells how the West made a pact with Gaddafi, with realpolitik, oil and terrorism as a back drop. How does a man who was the West's main enemy during the 1980s and one of terrorism’s principle godfathers, become respectable?
Recently, an entirely remodelled Crazy Horse - the sexiest cabaret in the world - reopened its doors. Through the experience of a few performers, this film revives all the challenges involved in the creation of its new revue. Can Leslie, the youngest recruit, handle the stress of being on stage for the first time? Will Daniela, a chaste classical dancer, cope with nudity? As captain of the show, will Zula be able to step up? Crazy Horse: The Revival slowly strips of its secrets this Parisian temple of nudity.
How did striptease arise and why hasn't it been made extinct by X-rated films and internet pornography? What do strippers think of their clients and how does a psychoanalyst explain the fascination mixed with fear that female nudity provokes in males? Where did peep shows go and what takes place in the 'private rooms' that have replaced them? What's the difference between a cabaret in Paris's Pigalle quarter and a strip club on the Champs Elysees? What emotions are stirred within a regular customer when he sees a stripper undress? What does striptease look like on a mobile phone, and how does Paris's Crazy Horse Saloon remain relevant in this information age? Why does male striptease entertain women but not arouse them? What diverse views on the art of striptease can we obtain from a historian, a lawyer, a photographer, a curator or a writer? Who are the nude activists who, via burlesque, raise questions about sexuality and pornography? And why is all physical contact so strictly banned? In answering these questions, Striptease Unveiled attempts to lay bare the legend of striptease.
This is a personal story of one small woman’s fight to save one of the planet’s largest animals. Lek has saved hundreds of Asian Elephants from abuse, street begging and hardship over the past 20 years. Working from a remote village in Northern Thailand, she continues her dangerous work despite obstacles and death threats. Running this sanctuary, Lek has devoted her life to saving this animal. As experts predict the Asian Elephant faces extinction within four decades, her work is needed now more than ever.
Enthusiastic Cambridge classicist Michael Scott (a bit of a Bear Grylls lookalike) heads to the ancient Greek city of Delphi to explain the important role it played down many centuries of European history. Kings, emperors and other movers and shakers from around the Mediterranean came to Delphi to consult the oracle of the god, Apollo. This made Delphi an information hub that spread news and knowledge far and wide. Happily, quite a bit of that information has been preserved.
A Country like no other in Europe, Hungary is influenced by the rhythms of its rivers. White-tailed eagles, otters and enormous catfish share the wetlands with many other species living close to the local people, often unnoticed. The Country’s inhabitants have learnt to cope with alternating floods and droughts. “Wild Hungary” is their story presenting some never-before-filmed animal behavior like dancing deer or wintering catfish. The program has been awarded numerous prizes worldwide.
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is one of the most beautiful paintings in the world. It is also one of the most mysterious. Disfigured and even jeopardised by "repairs" and by the successive layers of varnish applied to it over the centuries, it was also in very bad condition. To save the painting, it had to be restored. The spectacular operation, the likes of which occurs only once a century, took over three years to complete. The complex and outstanding restoration process provided a unique opportunity to get as close as possible to the painting, to how it was originally painted, and to better understand the complex relationship Leonardo da Vinci had with one of his finest masterpieces.
Berlin has a natural wild side – a fascinating parallel world of wildlife wonders great and small, right on the doorstep. For every human inhabitant of Berlin there are at least two birds, and nowhere else are so many sparrows and nightingales to be found as in Germany’s capital.Berlin's Alexander square is a breeding territory for peregrine falcons, while bats have made their home in the waterworks. Swarms of bees harvest the honey from the city’s almost half a million trees, while badgers can be found scurrying across courtyards and praying mantises await their prey in strips of railway land. The metropolis of Berlin is an urban jungle, providing a habitat for thousands of racoons, foxes, bats, squirrels, hedgehogs and beavers – Berlin is wild in more ways than one.
Nowhere in the British Isles was the Viking connection longer-lasting or deeper than in Scotland. Hundreds of years after their first hit-and-run raids, the Norsemen still dominated huge swathes of the country. But storm clouds were gathering. In 1263 the Norwegian king Haakon IV assembled a fleet of 120 longships to counter Scottish raids on the Norse Hebrides. It was a force comparable in size to the Spanish Armada over three centuries later. But like the Armada, the Norse fleet was eventually defeated by a powerful storm. Driven ashore near present-day Largs, the beleaguered Norsemen were attacked by a Scottish army. The outcome of this vicious encounter would mark the beginning of the end of Norse power in Scotland. Marine archeologist Dr Jon Henderson tells the incredible story of the Norsemen in Scotland. Visiting fascinating archeological sites across Scotland and Norway, he reveals that, although the battle at Largs marked the end of an era for the Norsemen, their presence continued to shape the identity and culture of the Scottish nation to the present day.
Famed British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger spent five years between 1946 and 1950 living with the Bedouin of Southern Arabia and crossing the legendary Rub al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, of the Arabian Desert. Sixty-five years after his first crossing, Adrian Hayes attempted to retrace Thesiger’s footsteps with his own crossing of the desert by camel and foot over forty-four days, similarly accompanied by two Bedouin companions and a number of other travellers. With an absorbing narrative and captivating photographs of the terrain and people who still inhabit this harsh land, Footsteps of Thesiger inspires a spirit of adventure and an interest in the region’s heritage
This documentary provides a portrait of the late Joe Sarno, one of the pioneering directors of the 1960s ‘sexploitation’ film genre. Known for a distinctly economic style and an abiding interest in tense, psycho-sexual character development, Sarno has come to be recognised as one of the true auteurs to emerge from the sexploitation form. The program includes archival footage from his films and interviews with Sarno, his wife, and expert cinephiles. (From France, in English and French) (Documentary)
Explores censorship and public decency on television using the example of the infamous 1970s 'filmmaker', Ugly George. George was host, cameraman and producer of a lewd cable access television show. With a camera taped to his backpack, he would roam the streets of New York City in search of women who were willing to reveal their naked bodies for his television program. He was surprisingly successful. Reviled by many for his sexist attitude, he was also admired by others who saw his program as revolutionary. (From the US) (Documentary) MA (S,L,N) CC
Nothing so awe-inspiring had ever been seen in medieval Europe. Gothic cathedrals towered above the horizon with stone spires that seemed to reach heaven. But now some of these cathedrals teeter on the brink of catastrophic collapse. To save them, an international team of engineers, architects, art historians and computer scientists searches the naves, bays and bell-towers for clues to their architectural secrets. (From the US) (Documentary) G CC
Diseases that were largely eradicated forty years ago are returning. Across the world children are dying from preventable conditions, because nervous parents are skipping their children’s vaccinations. Yet the stories of vaccine injury are frightening, with rare cases of people being seriously hurt by vaccines. This documentary looks at the growing trend of vaccine hesitancy around the world, exploring the reasons for complacency and concerns, and highlighting the impact of delaying or refusing immunisation.
This documentary explores teenagers' emerging sexuality in an age of increasingly accessible and hardcore pornography. While the technology of our times (internet and mobile phones) amplify the availability of pornography, the impact on young people's sexual development and early relationships is unprecedented. The program tells the stories of young people for whom pornography is normalized, and goes behind the scenes of the porn industry to discover the reality behind the fantasy. (From Australia) (Documentary) MA (A,S,N)
Anna Choy, takes a personal and highly confronting journey uncovering the growing trend of deracialisation cosmetic surgery in Australia. This is no simple case of nip and tuck; procedures include, extreme facial contouring, double eyelid surgery, nose jobs, skin whitening and calf reductions. But as Anna digs deeper into what drives people to change their race, she comes face to face with her own demons.
To commemorate the passing of Nelson Mandela, SBS presents Nelson Mandela: The Final Chapter, a fresh portrait of the anti-apartheid hero, never-before screened in Australia. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Clifford Bestall, this film offers a unique glimpse into the life of Nelson Mandela at a point when, in his own words, he ‘retired from retirement’. The filmmakers were given unprecedented access to Mandela from the beginning of his 90th year until his final retreat from public life. The resulting documentary is an intimate portrayal of one of history’s most respected and revered statesmen. Nelson Mandela – The Final Chapter includes never-before seen footage of Mandela’s last ever tour abroad, as well as private meetings and discussions with admirers, celebrities, heads-of-state and ordinary people. It is a privileged insight into his time in retirement, the final chapter in a remarkable life.
Out on the ocean, a ship of doctors and nurses is traveling to the poorest of the poor living in West Africa. It carries life saving medical services for people who have none: children who suffer with terrible leg deformities, women outcast from their communities by birthing fistulas, vast tumors of all shapes and sizes which afflict the unlucky. With no medical help, sufferers must survive the best they can - unless the ship is in port. The ship docks in a different country every year and people come from all corners of the globe. It is the last hope for so many – and if they miss the boat, there is no other chance. On arrival, a flood of patients pours into the port, but in this medical lottery not everyone can win. For the lucky ones, doctors will carry out lifesaving operations on unbelievable cases. Many of these ills do not exist outside of West Africa and have never been seen before by these doctors. Nonetheless, the volunteer medics must make on the spot life and death decisions. Some are too far-gone to treat, others not deemed severe enough - and the worst group are the patients in the middle, where the treatment may bring uncertain outcome, but no treatment means certain death. A confronting, complex journey for the volunteer doctors and nurses, it will be a case of life and death for many of the patients. By the end it is not just the patients who are transformed. The young nurses and doctors will be challenged to the limits of their training and abilities. Told through their eyes we follow the dramatic and confronting events as they unfold on the Surgery Ship. - See more at: http://www.documentaryaustralia.com.au/films/details/1673/surgery-ship#sthash.bCu0Sr2h.dpuf
Wild Iran Wildlife photographer Benny Rebel returns to his native Iran to document its little-known wilderness and extraordinary collection of plants and animals – from wild donkeys to cheetahs, leopards, striped hyenas, golden eagles and giant lizards. He laboriously tracks down wildlife in ancient rainforests, temperate plains, craggy mountains and baking deserts. His intimate knowledge of the land allows him to introduce the animals and people of a country that we often only hear about through its politics.
The world is watching closely as Somalia continues to raise fears of extremism and unending clan warfare. Years of civil war and crippling drought have torn this once-prosperous nation to shreds. Now pirates and terrorists are destroying what remains of civil society… But one man thinks he can make a difference. This film gains unprecedented access to Abdirahman Farole, a Somali-Australian former refugee who has returned to his native land to become the President of Puntland (the northern province of Somalia) with the sole mission to bring back peace and a working democracy to Somalia once and for all. Can Somalia be saved?
Just off the southern coast of mainland Greece lies Pavlopetri, the oldest submerged city in the world. It thrived for 2,000 years during the time that saw the birth of western civilisation. An international team of experts is using cutting-edge technology to prise age-old secrets from the complex of streets and stone buildings that lie less than five metres below the surface of the ocean. State-of-the-art CGI helps to raise the city from the seabed, revealing for the first time in 3,500 years how Pavlopetri would once have looked and operated.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan's north-east coast followed by a massive tsunami. The country suffered widespread devastation and in the aftermath of the disaster, four nuclear reactors in Fukushima began to disintegrate. This program details the unfolding disaster at Fukushima and reveals exactly how it happened and why.
This two-part series provides a definitive account of how one man took control of the media and became one of the wealthiest, most powerful and feared figures in the world. It pulls no punches as it delivers the complete inside story of this extraordinary man and his family empire, an empire that started with The Adelaide News, and now includes major newspapers in Australia and across the globe, as well as international television channels, a movie studio and a major publishing company, just to name a few. (Commissioned by SBS) (Documentary Series)
How did one man take control of the media and become one of the wealthiest, most powerful and feared figures in the world?
This documentary follows the Marescot family, father and nature filmmaker, Luc Marescot, mother, biologist and ethologist, Myriam Marescot, along with their children, Esther Marescot, 13, and Myrdhin Marescot, 9.They emarked on this trip after Luc realised that all the countless hours spent on the road traveling and filming was time away from his family. Quite simply, he was missing seeing his children grow up. So Luc convinced Myriam to pack up with their kids and go on a seven month journey from Africa to Australia. The couple?s hope was that their combined skills and knowledge would help them reveal the strange wonders of nature to their children, but also teach them what no school could offer.
What makes us good or evil? It's a simple but deeply unsettling question. One that scientists are now starting to answer. Horizon meets the researchers who have studied some of the most terrifying people behind bars - psychopathic killers. But there was a shock in store for one of these scientists, Professor Jim Fallon, when he discovered that he had the profile of a psychopath. And the reason he didn't turn out to be a killer holds important lessons for all of us. We meet the scientist who believes he has found the moral molecule and the man who is using this new understanding to rewrite our ideas of crime and punishment.
This documentary examines modern and future trends in which architects, artists, and artisanal builders with a vision, are pushing the limits of form and materials, to answer new demands for portability and flexibility, and creating independence from the housing and services grid. With overpopulation, and environmental concerns at the forefront, designers from Australia, North America, Greece, Denmark and Holland profile their new innovative housing ideas for sustainable living “off the grid”.
For centuries the human adult brain has been thought to be incapable of fundamental change. Now the discovery and growing awareness of neuroplasticity has revolutionised our understanding of the brain. Dr Norman Doidge (The Brain That Changes Itself) takes us through some very compelling neurological cases to illustrate how the changing brain plays an important role in treating mental disorders and diseases that were once thought incurable.
A profile of the highly esteemed Australian architectural photographer John Gollings, producer of landmark images throughout Australia and Asia. This film follows Gollings on a journey from Melbourne to the rapidly changing Asian region, and gives an insight into his personal influences and what it takes to create the memorable images that have earned him a place amongst the world's top architectural photographers.
WikiLeaks has gained a world wide reputation as a whistle blower of extreme magnitude, enhancing knowledge about American diplomacy, Iranian torture, Icelandic bank ponzies and more. This detailed documentary on WikiLeaks investigates the vision driving the enigmatic founder, Julian Assange, a man declared a saint in the same breath as he is facing charges of rape and treason.
It used be that everyone knew what it meant to be a man. A man was rugged and reliable and got the job done. But then came the worst recession in 80 years. So what happens now that the job is gone? The End of Men is a compelling new documentary that takes a profound look at how men are coping with the evolving role of masculinity in today?s world, where the old rules no longer apply.
Picturesque coves, freshly caught fish on the harbour, one of the many areas here when history is still alive. Hundreds of islands are strewn across the royal blue water. Croatia is the Adriatic’s jewel. Discover some of the largest contrasts in landscapes, plus the special wildlife which inhabit one of Europe’s smallest countries. (From Germany, in English)
Serbia is located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. It is also one of Europe’s natural wonders, filled with a rich variety of landscapes and animals.To this day a large number of Serbian people live in close communion with nature, proud of the storks’ nests in the villages, the ancient species of livestock that have been preserved and the vultures that return to make their home here. In many places people are pleased to see bears, lynx and wolves, and even jackals are at home in the forests of Serbia. This documentary presents Serbia's breath-taking, picturesque regions and unique wildlife on a journey to the most beautiful and wildest areas of the Balkan Peninsula. (From Germany, in English)
The 18-day Egyptian revolution was started by its youth, but drew in all layers of Egypt's fractured society, across age, class and religious divide. As the fear barrier was broken, destinies were transformed by the tumultuous events. This film offers an examination of the demise of the Mubarak regime through the eyes of people whose lives were, until now, defined by it. (From Qatar, in English and Arabic)
Every year a million visitors are drawn to the Salisbury Plain, in southern England, to gaze upon a mysterious circle of stones. Stonehenge may be the best-known and most mysterious relic of prehistory. During the 20th century, excavations revealed that the structure was built in stages, and that it dates back some 5,000 years, to the late Stone Age. The meaning of the monument, however, was anyone's guess - until recently. Now investigations inside and around Stonehenge have kicked off a dramatic new era of discovery and debate. (From the US)
Tucked away in the Forbidden City's north-east corner in Beijing, lies a unique group of buildings that had lain unused for more than two hundred years. This exquisite Forbidden City in miniature, the Qianlong Garden, was built as a retirement complex for the Qing dynasty's Qianlong Emperor. The restoration of the Lodge of Retirement is the first ever international collaboration for the Palace Museum.
How did a rehearsal for D-Day on a sleepy stretch of British coast turn into a bloodbath resulting in the death of hundreds of Allied soldiers? 'Exercise Tiger' was the Allies' worst training disaster of the 20th century - a combination of allied incompetence and enemy infiltration that was hushed up until 1984. Survivor and eye-witness accounts, top-secret documents, film archive and findings from underwater excavations help to reveal the secrecy and conflicting evidence that persists to this day. This documentary tells the truth about Exercise Tiger, a rehearsal for D-Day on the Devon coast in April 1944 that turned into a bloodbath when the US landing craft were ambushed by German E-boats. (From the Netherlands, in English) (Documentary) PG
In the early sixties, to talk about computer science meant talking about enormous calculators that were seen as pure science fiction to the vast majority. In 1963 the IBM PDP-1 occupied an entire room, cost 100.000 dollars and was in few specialised laboratories. And while the world dreams about and fears this object of the future, in that small lab with tainted black windows, four pioneers invented the P101, ''the first desk top computer of the world'. This is the birth of our age. But the big US companies didn’t sit idly by. In 1967, Hewlett Packard compensated Olivetti with 900.000 dollars, implicitly recognising that they had infringed the Olivetti’s patent of the P101 with their model HP 9100 and the inventors received a dollar each as a symbolic gesture, for that invention that changed the world. Programma 101 is the tale of the birth of our era, told through the voices of its protagonists and through an incredible archive material. (From Italy, in Italian and English) (Documentary) G CC
Have you ever read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies connected to every website you visit, phone call you make, or app you use? Of course you haven’t. But those agreements allow corporations to do things with your personal information you could never even imagine. What are you really agreeing to when you click "I accept"? Through interviews with technology thought leaders and futurists, including Moby, Chief Google Engineer Ray Kurzweil, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Terms and Conditions May Apply' brilliantly documents the sign posts on the slippery slope of internet privacy. This disquieting exposé demonstrates how we unknowingly, click by click, generate a cloud of data that records our every on-line move. (From the US) (Documentary) M
What is one degree? And what does one degree mean in the context of global warming? Once upon a time, actor and comedian Ben Miller was going to be a physicist. He embarked on a PhD in low temperature physics at Cambridge University's world-renowned Cavendish Laboratory, but abandoned his white coat for the lure of the stage. In this programme Ben returns to his origins as a scientist, embarking on a journey into the mysteries of temperature, heat, and energy, learning about the importance of scientific measurement, the extremes of the range, and the relationship between the Sun's energy and the temperature on Earth. (From the UK) (Documentary) G
Pompeii was one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history. We know how its victims died - but how did they live? Gleaning evidence from an extraordinary find, scientists are providing new insights into the lives of these people. In a dark cellar in Oplontis, just three kilometres from Pompeii, 54 skeletons which didn't succumb to the torrent of volcanic ash are about to be put under the microscope. The remains will be submitted to a barrage of tests that will unlock one of the most comprehensive scientific snapshots of Pompeian life ever produced - and the results are surprising. (From the UK) (Documentary) PG
After twenty years of reunification, is Germany still divided? After reunification, life went on in the West virtually unchanged. But for those in the East, life as they knew it ceased to exist. People read their Stasi files and learned that best friends and spouses had betrayed them. Friendships were destroyed. Many lost their jobs and with their jobs, their identity. Despite all of the negatives associated with the cruel regime of the former East Germany, many are experiencing a strange nostalgia for the old times. (From Germany, in English and German) (Documentary) (Rpt) PG
An absorbing documentary on The Funk Brothers, the band who put the backbeat into the countless hits of Motown Records. Standing In The Shadows Of Motown is the story of these remarkable musicians whose talents had gone unrecognised for over 30 years. Exhilarating, funny and moving - their story is one of triumph and tragedy, hits and heartbreak.
Hailed as the great sexual liberator of women in the early 1980s, the sexually-active world embraced the G-spot. But to many contemporary women the exact location remains elusive and medical science is still searching for a distinctive anatomical feature. This playful yet illuminating program investigates whether the G-spot is a physiological organ, the greatest gift to womankind or just wishful thinking.
Under the sea, the reproduction chain is extremely varied and complicated. How are marine animals able to reproduce in such vast, dark oceans where meeting a partner seems impossible? How, in this moving, liquid element, do they manage to overcome the challenge of perpetuating the species? Over millions of years of evolution, marine animals have used the physical properties of the water, each in their own way, and succeeded in developing original mating strategies for passing on their genes. (From France, in English) (Documentary) PG
Kraftwerk have always managed to shift effortlessly between the worlds of Popular Music and Art. Using state of the art electronics, video imagery and graphic art, and eschewing the cults of personality and stardom, they have remained enigmatic and extraordinarily influential on a generation of musicians and artists. This documentary represents the first film ever made and approved by the band and includes excerpts from their recent sell-out performances at the Tate Modern in London. With contributions from critics and fellow musicians, as well as previously unseen archives, it represents a portrait of a band whose refusal to follow the well-trodden paths of pop stardom made them a genuine force for cultural change, innovation and intrigue.
Mum's Line - Actor and comedian Eddie Izzard sets out on an incredible personal quest to follow the route of his ancestors in a 200,000-year migration from Africa to Europe. Becoming the first human ever to trace his genes’ journey, this spectacular global travelogue starts with a sample of Eddie’s DNA. Scientists then plot the exact path his distant cousins took. It’s an entertaining, unpredictable journey through Namibia, Cameroon and Djibouti in Africa, up into Arabia and onwards, finally arriving in the UK, where his family has been since the 1640s. Along the way he meets distant relatives, from the San bushmen of the Kalahari to the survivors of Pompeii on this awe-inspiring adventure.
Nominated for Best Documentary at the 2001 Dendy Awards. Ness was born Vanessa Alexandra Pecheniuk in Melbourne, 1971. She is a third generation Russian and has spent most of her life denying her family's existence. When Ness receives a call from an aunt who disappeared 22 years ago, she is prompted to contact her family and put some of her ghosts to rest.
Marine scientists across the world are racing to tackle the most urgent environmental challenge facing our planet today – ocean acidification. From the icy polar seas to the world’s most pristine coral reefs we track the latest scientific research. Heading the investigation is Dr Katharina Fabricius from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. She’s made a game-changing discovery. Nestled amongst Papua New Guinea’s stunning coral gardens is a unique reef – a window to the future of our oceans.
This documentary provides a powerful account of the events which led to 9/11. It reveals how Osama Bin Laden ran his terrorist group and sheds light on the consequences of his assassination earlier this year by American Special Forces. With exclusive access to Abu Jandal, Bin Laden's bodyguard and confidant; FBI special agent Ali Soufan who hunted Al Qaeda prior to 9/11; and Michael Scheuer, the former chief of the CIA's Bin Laden Unit, this program offers a fascinating insight into the inner workings of a much-feared organisation. (From the UK, in English and Arabic) (Documentary) M (V) CC
This program investigates two of the worst maritime disasters of World War Two. The first was the single worst shipping misfortune in British history – the sinking of the Lancastria in 1940 off the coast of Brittany with the loss of around 5,000 lives. The other tragedy struck the French steamer Meknes, which sailed from Southampton in July 1940 with 1300 French seamen aboard. It was hit by a German torpedo and sank in 10 minutes. Over 400 men perished in the catastrophe.
In Tokyo, three women take us through the realm of fuzoku; the world of erotic entertainment in Japan. Yuna is an aspiring actress in hard-core films, Nao engages clients in hard-chats and Miho is a well-known striptease artist. We learn about their dreams, we follow them at work and during their free time, in host clubs where they drink and find escorts, and in nightclubs where shibari, the art of sadomasochistic binding, is practiced.
Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of kung fu and Zen Buddhism. For 1500 years Shaolin has managed to adapt and survive but the wars and upheavals of the 20th century nearly finished the temple off. Then in the early 1980s the temple was reborn thanks to two men: Deng Xiaoping, who encouraged Chinese enterprise, and the other was Jet Li, who starred in the 1984 box office hit Shaolin Temple. Today the temple has multi-million dollar investments in property, media, healthcare and tourism.
Chilling documentary that reveals how the famous Berlin Wall came to be, tracing the sequence of events that led up to the 28-mile ring of steel's overnight erection in 1961.
The untold story of how a Sydney beach became the scene of the Cronulla riots. Told through the perspective of those who were there, 'Cronulla Riots -The Day That Shocked the Nation' investigates simmering tensions between groups of Australians that led to racially motivated violence at Sydney’s Cronulla beach one hot day in December 2005.
This powerful documentary reveals a side to Shaun never seen before as he heads to India, a country where spirituality and the search for meaning is very much a national past time, and he immerses himself in the Hindu world of Gods, Gurus and the Ganges. In a bid to get to the heart of the faith, Shaun pushes well beyond his comfort zone on a physical, mental and spiritual adventure. He journeys to the source of the Ganges high in the Himalayas - all the while offering his own unique observations on his quest to find the meaning of life.
After the Wave tells the untold story of Australia's extraordinary role in what became the world's greatest forensic detective operation. The first to appear on the ground weer a crack team of forensic experts from the Australian Federal Police who had the tough task of establishing a process to accurately identify the dead. Also explored in this documentary are the harrowing first person accounts from tsunami survivors documenting their experiences.
This is a whimsical, slightly risqué but also serious exploration of the taboo subject of female masturbation. See interviews from women of all ages about their own personal stories and practices. It also looks at the history of female sexuality, along with the marketing of the vibrator to women in the 20th century, as well as the tragic issue of genital mutilation and its disastrous consequences.
Filmed on location in 19 countries, this program looks at the geopolitical struggle for control of the waterways of the Middle East. After centuries of naval domination of the region’s waters, the West faces the rising tide of indigenous control all around the Indian Ocean rim. And in the wake of popular uprisings in the Middle East, few certainties remain. But one thing is clear: the West no longer dictates outcomes like before – and it is far from sure what actions, war or otherwise, can restore its slipping influence.
The Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy was one of the most important monuments in the whole of Christianity. During the Second World War, the Allied forces controversially decided to bomb the abbey as they thought the Germans were using it for military purposes. This documentary reconstructs the political and military background behind the stalemate of the Anglo-American military campaign in Italy in 1944, the dramatic leadership errors and the mutual lack of trust between the Allied partners.
Atanasoff: Father of the Computer tells the story of the lone inventor who fought all his life to be recognized as the originator of one of mankind’s most significant inventions. Atanasoff, a physics professor at the Iowa State College needed a better calculator that can quickly solve advanced equations and when he tries to find such a machine, realizes none exists. So Atanasoff decided he must build his own calculator.His special-purpose machine has come to be called the Atanasoff–Berry Computer which uses many of the main components of a modern computer, its digital, fully electronic, uses parallel processing and separates the cpu and memory using dram
The remote Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia is home to one of the world's most extraordinary and spectacular meteorological phenomena, the Morning Glory Wave Cloud. Up to two kilometers high and a thousand kilometers long, the Glory is a shock wave in the atmosphere of immense proportions.Join Professor Thomas Peacock from MIT in Boston and Dr. Jorg Hacker from Airborne Research Australia as they journey to Burketown in the remote north of Australia to study this elusive phenomenon and meet the glider pilots who ride the largest wave in the world.
This documentary explores the effects of modern warfare on our environment and ecosystem, looking back throughout history and examining the environmental damage which has been done.
The story of sustainability and science through two parallel narrative arcs:The endangered Sandalwood species in the deserts of Western Australia and the sustainability of the French perfume industry.
On 28 November 1979, an Air New Zealand jet with 257 passengers went missing during a sightseeing tour over Antarctica. Eleven police officers were called to duty to face the formidable Mount Erebus. As they recovered the victims, an investigation team tried to uncover the mystery of how a jet could fly into a mountain in broad daylight. Did the airline have a secret it wanted to bury? This documentary tells the story of four officers who went to Antarctica as part of the recovery police operation. For the first time an Air New Zealand senior staff member provides the inside story of the airline that was accused of one of the largest corporate cover-ups in New Zealand’s history. Set in the beautiful yet hostile environment of Antarctica, this is an emotional and compelling true story.
This documentary provides a portrait of the late Joe Sarno, one of the pioneering directors of the 1960s ‘sexploitation’ film genre. Known for a distinctly economic style and an abiding interest in tense, psycho-sexual character development, Sarno has come to be recognised as one of the true auteurs to emerge from the sexploitation form. The program includes archival footage from his films and interviews with Sarno, his wife, and expert cinephiles.
The Siberian discovery of the best-preserved woolly mammoth on record has teams of experts working around the globe, and around the clock, on some of the most ambitious projects in science. In Russia, paleontologists are conducting a historic autopsy on the 40,000-year-old beast to find out how it lived, and how it died. Meanwhile labs in South Korea and at Harvard University are using the latest advances in DNA manipulation in hopes of cloning the furry giant and introducing it to the modern world.
This documentary explores the life of Stalin’s daughter, who lived a life in the shadow of one of the most powerful - and notorious - men in Europe.
This documentary follows the lives of male strippers in the sexiest cities in North America - Montréal, Niagara Falls and Las Vegas. Each guy has been selected to create a dynamic perspective on the reality of making a living in the buff. This documentary will reveal questions such as: Is it about money? Is it a sexual turn-on? How did they get here? What do their families and friends think? Do they take their work home with them? How much do they make? Is it competitive on the floor trying to get private dances? What is life like away from the club? How do they size up a client? How do our straight boys feel about dancing for dudes? And the gay boys dancing for ladies? (From Canada) (Documentary) MA(S,D)
The Colosseum is one of the most iconic buildings of the ancient world—legendary, mythical, even magical—and it stands as a monument to Roman imperial power and cruelty. The spectacles staged here involved the killing of tens of thousands of gladiators, prisoners, and wild animals. Records of these games brag of seemingly impossible acts—beasts magically appearing on stage and water flash-flooding the arena so that full-sized ships could engage in sea battles. Were the Romans exaggerating or did they truly achieve these feats? Until now, experts have been dubious—but what if these aren’t tall tales? Now, a team of modern builders and engineers test their theories by building a trap door-pulley system capable of lifting a beast into the Colosseum. Do they have what it takes to replicate the innovation and ingenuity of the Romans?
Deep beneath the streets of Rome is an amazing underground world: a labyrinth of tunnels and vaults more than 360 miles long. This vast subterranean cemetery was created by ancient Romans nearly 2,000 years ago. Just a few years ago, a previously undiscovered catacomb containing thousands of human skeletons was unearthed. Historian Dr Michael Scott joins a team of international archaeologists to unlock the skeletons’ secrets, using DNA mapping and cutting-edge archaeology to solve the mystery of who these men and women were and how they died.
This program examines the life and enduring appeal of the symbol of Italian manhood and the Latin lover from the sixties onwards, the first and perhaps last truly international Italian movie star, who was launched to success in his starring role in Fellini’s, “La Dolce Vita”. With extensive film and interview-based archives, this documentary allows Mastroianni to tell his own story and explore all the complexities and ambiguities that went towards making him such an irresistible force. A favourite of directors like Fellini, Visconti and Antonioni, he also frequently starred opposite celebrated stars like Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale.
What do the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the Thirty Years’ War and the Renaissance have in common? For one, they were all starkly affected by extreme weather conditions. Indeed, if we take a fresh look at human history in the light of Earth’s volatile climate, we can expose hidden parallels, draw surprising conclusions and explain bizarre historical conundrums. This feature-length documentary combines natural sciences and history, a journey from the Big Bang to Iceland’s volcanoes – a gripping narrative that explores little-known connections between the Earth’s climate and major historical events. Are these extremes of weather really a 21st-century phenomenon? Or has climate determined the fate of humanity ever since amphibians took their first steps on terra firma?
AFL Legends from Australia's Indigenous communities share stories from their journeys through life and football.
A look at the history of the American comedy publication and production company, National Lampoon, from its beginning in the 1970s to 2010, featuring rare and never-before-seen footage.
Modern man can cure diseases, communicate at light speed, and even fly through space. But no matter how technologically advanced and civilized modern man becomes, he still has a little bit of the brutish and primitive Neanderthal in him. Up to four percent of human DNA is pure Neanderthal, yet the Neanderthal Man disappeared from the earth 39,000 years ago, vanishing into the mist of prehistory, never to be seen again. The question is why? This documentary goes on an exploratory journey of investigation and discovery, uncovering truths about their lives in order to illustrate the Neanderthal’s traits, his strengths and weaknesses.
How can a blind man ride a bike, a Shaolin monk bend an iron rod with his neck and a man perform extraordinary calculations in his head? This documentary goes in pursuit of people with extraordinary skills that go beyond what is ordinarily deemed humanly possible. It sets out to put their unique talents under the spotlight and scientifically test their abilities to gain an understanding of what makes them so special and how it is possible for them to perform their incredible feats. Theirs are unbelievable stories of discovering their unique abilities and trying to get by in a world marked by the ordinary.
Gayby Baby is a portrait of four kids – Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham – whose parents all happen to be gay. In this heartfelt documentary, we get to know the four children: Gus wants to be a WWE wrestler; Matt questions the teachings of his church; Graham struggles with living in ultra-conservative Fiji; Ebony dreams of stardom. As they each wrestle with the challenges of oncoming adolescence, the outside world wrestles with the issue of marriage equality, and whether or not kids like them are at risk.
The true story behind the Gallipoli letter written in September 1915 by Rupert Murdoch’s father, Keith Murdoch, at the time a young Australian journalist. According to journalistic legend, Keith Murdoch’s letter toppled a general, shook a government and ended the bloodbath that was Gallipoli, one of the most brutal calamities of the First World War. But, as we find out in this investigative documentary, the truth behind the events of 100 years ago, is far more complex.
John Safran investigates the micro parties contesting the 2016 Australian Federal Election, revealing bizarre alliances that unpend perceptions of Australian multiculturalism, uncovering what could be the most religious election ever. As the nation heads towards a neck-and-neck election, the micro parties supported by Australia's religious minorities could end up with a balance of power. Join Safran as he cracks the lid on unlikely alliances and surprising frenemies in his inimitable style.
Charting the volatile political journey of newly elected Senator Pauline Hanson from 1996 to 2016, Pauline Hanson: Please Explain! shows the impact that the former fish and chip shop lady had on multicultural Australia – as it seems she’s now set to have a similar impact, all over again.
Nadia Comăneci is a former Romanian gymnast, winner of three gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastics event. She also won two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She is one of the best-known gymnasts in the world. Her life was one of sacrifice, hardship, dedication and triumph played against the backdrop of a brutal Communist regime in her home country. Based on her own memoir, this documentary tells the amazing story of her life from the young girl in Romania who was discovered when doing cartwheels in her school playground, to the poised young woman who made a break for freedom and eventually made a life for herself away from gymnastics.
Katsushika Hokusai was probably the most famous and most outstanding Japanese painter and printmaker of his generation, and was the artist whose fame was the quickest to cross the seas. A multi-faceted and all-round artist, his work is labyrinthine, probably comprising some 30,000 prints, not counting his oil paintings and the books he illustrated. The painter’s life was rich, his work was prolific, and both were imbued with a multitude of signs most of which are unknown to us. This documentary embarks upon a journey and pays a “visit to Hokusai”, in the company of his enlightened admirers - Japanese connoisseurs, who are familiar with all these signs.
In a continuous 64,000-mile voyage lasting fifteen months, the commerce-raider SMS Wolf caused havoc across three oceans, launched Germany’s only direct attacks on Australia and New Zealand in the Great War.To all appearances an ordinary freighter, the Wolf carried an arsenal of seven guns and four torpedo tubes concealed behind drop-down deck walls, and 465 mines which were dropped overboard from a door hidden in her stern. Surviving on fuel and food from plundered ships, the Wolf became a world in miniature, crew and prisoners crowded together in an improbable survival story.
Big Boss: The Last Leader Of The Crocodile Islands Murrungga Island is situated in the top end of Arnhem Land in a group of islands known as The Crocodile Islands. This is where we find 95-year-old Laurie Baymarrwangga or as she is affectionately known, 'Big Boss', who was named Senior Australian of the Year in 2012.The documentary describes Baymarrwangga's single greatest achievement: the Yan-nhangu Dictionary. The dictionary's main aim is to preserve Yan-nhangu language and local knowledge from the potentially damaging consequences of rapid global change. The documentary, which won in the ‘Promotion of Indigenous Recognition’ category.
This compelling investigative documentary exposes the US sugar industry’s systematic hijacking of scientific study to bury evidence that sugar is, in fact, toxic. For forty years, Big Sugar deflected threats to its multi-billion dollar empire through creative PR and tactics strikingly similar to the way the tobacco industry disguised the fact that its products are addictive and cause fatal illnesses. As obesity rates skyrocket and doctors treat the first generation of children suffering from fatty liver disease, the sugar industry has come under increasing scrutiny from emerging scientific and medical studies. While the industry steps up its advertising spin and lobbying efforts, this film warns that we are sitting on a dietary time bomb. (From Canada, in English)
What's really going on in the Bermuda Triangle? Thousands of boats and planes are claimed to have disappeared without trace in the waters between Bermuda, Miami and Puerto Rico. Dramatic experiments reveal how underwater explosions, monster waves and the strongest storms on Earth could all drag ships and planes to the bottom of the sea.
Why would an educated young woman choose to go into the porn industry? What are the dangers and what does it take to succeed? Jade is a graduate in fashion, but she has decided to pursue a lucrative career as a porn actress. Her attempts to break into the industry see Jade travel around the world and face some difficult questions about the ethics and morality of her chosen career, as well as more practical considerations that most of us would never have thought about. This is the porn industry seen from the inside out in intimate, shocking detail.
Archeologists have uncovered an ancient mystery beneath the city of modern London: hundreds of skulls from more than 2000 years ago. Something strange and astonishing happened to produce these human remains, and this compelling documentary, narrated by Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), looks for answers. Setting the scene of Roman history, MYSTERY OF THE ROMAN SKULLS investigates the leading historical theories of who the victims were and why were they beheaded.
In just a few months, Hunter Moore, a young unemployed man of 24, became the most detested man on the Internet. His crime - he created isanyoneup.com, the first web site dedicated to ‘revenge porn’.
Dan Snow uncovers the lost Vikings in America with space archaeologist Dr Sarah Parcak. Sarah uses satellites 383 miles above the earth to spot ruins as small as 30 centimetres buried beneath the surface.
Dan Snow researches how the Norwegian and British Vikings settled in Iceland and formed their communities. Dan examines how the Vikings expanded first as raiders, then settlers and traders throughout Britain and beyond to Iceland and Greenland, discovering that they were entrepreneurs and inventors. In North America, Dan and Sarah excavate what could be the most westerly Viking settlement ever discovered.
One in five Australians has experienced racism in the last 12 months according to one of the biggest ever surveys conducted on racism and prejudice in Australia, commissioned by SBS with the Western Sydney University. Ray Martin investigates the question: Is Australia Racist? This one hour documentary puts survey findings into action through a series of hidden camera social experiments, capturing the experience of racism through the eyes of those who have suffered it. The results are at times confronting, but 'Is Australia Racist?' also reveals inspiring Australians facing up to racism and standing up when witnessing discrimination.
Can science cure racism? That’s the provocative idea behind The Truth About Racism, a documentary that takes a close look at the cutting edge science that’s exploring both the ways that racism manifests itself in our lives, and the actions we can take to try and counter it in ourselves and others. Yassmin Abdel-Magied, teams up with a group of scientists to put the last fifteen years of science through its paces, with four volunteers (plus Yassmin herself) as the subjects.
Why do some people 'sound gay' but not others? Why are gay voices a mainstay of pop culture but also a trigger for bullying and harassment? Following a break up with his boyfriend, journalist David Thorpe sets out on a quest to unravel a linguistic mystery…all his life, like many gay men, Thorpe has felt self-conscious about his stereotypically un-macho voice. But what are its origins? And why is there such a stigma attached to 'sounding gay'? As Thorpe consults with everyone from speech therapists to public figures to complete strangers, he unpacks complex cultural questions with wit, verve and intelligence.
In Australia, the move to legalise medical cannabis has gained substantial momentum, thanks largely to the tenacity of a Tamworth couple whose dying son benefited from medicinal cannabis. Battling an out-dated legal framework, scepticism, and prejudice, Lucie and Tony Haslam believe that the benefit gained for their son needed to be shared with the broader community. In an initiative which has brought change to the political and medical landscape, they were the driving force in co-ordinating an international symposium on medicinal cannabis. While doctors have little knowledge of the plant, it has historical significance as a prescription treatment for various ailments during the last century and as early as 1500 BC. Medicinal cannabis is yet to be legalised in Australia, but governments are shifting their perspective, transforming the question from the possibility of legalisation to a matter of when the change will take place.
The Seven Ages of Elvis sets out to explore exactly who Elvis was and the true meaning of his unprecedented impact on popular culture. Using Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man as a framework, the film charts 'The King of Rock n Roll's' extraordinary life, act by act - from his impoverished childhood in the depressed American South, through his meteoric rise to international fame, to his Vegas years and sad death in 1977. Combining archive material with personal testimonies from those who knew Elvis best, the film throws light on the secret to his triumphant, universal success and asks why audiences are still drawn to him 40 years after his death.
Meet Brynne Larson and the Sherkenback sisters. Wide-eyed and with unflappable enthusiasm, three teens from Phoenix, Arizona, jet-set across the globe to the unstable nation of Ukraine to save the souls of its primarily rural citizens.
Katie Couric sets out to explore the rapidly evolving complexities of gender identity.
With exclusive access to research conducted by University College London and the Terracotta Army Museum, this documentary uncovers new secrets of China's fabled warriors. The discovery of China's famous Terracotta Army in 1974 captured the imagination of the world. But that first dig only revealed a fraction of this enormous and extraordinary treasure. Since then, scientists have resumed work on the site, and their research has turned up a series of new discoveries about the warriors and the people who made them over two millennia ago.
Schtroumpfs, Smurfs, Pitufis, Lan-shin-ILings ou Schlumpfs, everybody knows them. But what are they really? Why 99 males and one female? Why are they blue? And what is the secret of their success? In a trip around the world, we will discover how far smurfmania goes.
The Surgeon and the Soldier is the story of leading Australian surgeon, Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis, who has pioneered osseointegration surgery, a controversial procedure for amputees. Munjed sets out to change the life of a young British soldier, a double amputee who has fought a David and Goliath battle with the British military to get the procedure done by Munjed in Australia. Munjed has had his own battles within the medical fraternity and more dramatically with the Australian authorities. Whilst now a leading, pioneering surgeon, Munjed is a refugee who arrived in Australia by boat and experienced the horrors of detention. Munjed is determined to realise his ambition, to make a half man, half robot and by achieving his lifelong dream to give back to as many people as possible: their mobility.
Florian Hartung and Dirk Pohlmann have reconstructed a previously unknown dimension of the collaboration between Nazis and the CIA in the Cold War. Drawing upon recently released documents, the film exposes for the first time a perfidious, worldwide net that reaches deep into the power structures of the Federal Republic of Germany. Lending their authority to the fact-finders’ mission are high-ranking statesmen, journalists and historians.
The Queen's Hamlet is a palace disguised as a peasant's cottage hidden in the Versailles gardens. A romantic hideaway, Marie-Antoinette conceived it as a reminder of her carefree youth in Vienna. But the Revolution left it for ruin. Now, two centuries later, the most extensive renovation ever finally begins. In summer 2017, the Queen's Hamlet was reopened to the public, restored to its original glory, one of the most extraordinary and moving architectural jewels of Versailles.
With 66 billion euros in revenue by the end of 2014, Google is the richest search engine company in the world and has become ubiquitous to the point of being used as a verb. Searching the net, sending messages via Gmail, getting around with Google maps, watching videos on YouTube.... By being ever present in our lives, Google has got to know a lot about us. But how much do we really know about Google? How did the big teenager become a giant octopus, data swallower who took the opportunity to sneak itself into so many practical and free services that have become a vital part of our lives? Search engine dominance, data privacy violations, tax avoidance, stressed out employees… Gain an exclusive insight into the dark side of Google!
Marie Tussaud, a character rooted in the 18th revolutionary century, had a front row seat at two Revolutions: a political revolution in France and the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Following in her foosteps, revisit the history of wax portraiture and popular entertainment in full bloom in the early 19th century when Great Britain was undergoing an unprecedented industrial and economic boom. Marie Tussaud was a talented wax artist, as well as an entrepreneur, but also a marketing pioneer. She toured Ireland, Scotland and England with a travelling museum, before ending her life in London at the head of a colossal empire, the Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. How did a woman survive such dangerous times, and rise to the status of National Treasure in a country whose language she could barely master?
This is the definitive story of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January 2015, and of the three days of horror that followed, leaving twenty dead and a nation traumatised. A true ticking-clock film, the documentary will be structured tightly around the three days of terror. The keyword is immediacy, so that we feel like we’re watching a drama, but where real lives are at stake, and every word is true. The film will unfold in the present tense, using UGC and police footage to take us into the heart of the action and, providing the emotional heartbeat of the film, powerful interviews with those who were there.
This program documents the revealing, surprising, and at times truly bizarre truth behind the active connections and heartfelt support Hitler and his regime enjoyed amongst the British elite - and it reaches up to even the most illustrious of high society. It's an ugly blemish on the lily-white image of the British upper class, one they've worked hard to hide and forget.
The documentary is a dramatic and revelatory new account of the final days in Hitler's bunker, based on new access to previously unseen Soviet archives, and cutting-edge forensics. In 2017, after two years of painstaking negotiations with the Russian authorities, award-winning investigative journalists Jean-Christophe Brisard and Lana Parshina gained access to confidential Soviet files that finally revealed the truth about the incredible hunt for Hitler's body. Their investigation includes new eyewitness accounts of Hitler's final days, exclusive photographic evidence and interrogation records, and exhaustive research into the absurd power struggle that ensued between the Soviet, British and American intelligence agencies. And for the first time since the end of the Second World War, authorised cutting-edge forensic tests are carried out on the human remains recovered from the bunker - a piece of skull with traces of the lethal bullet; a fragment of jaw bone and teeth
In Australia, our society is built around the idea that everyone gets a fair go. In the era of #MeToo and with the global movement for gender equality growing, it’s time to ask ourselves - is that really the case? Writer, TV presenter, radio host, and passionate advocate for gender equality Yumi Stynes wants to find out. Is Australia Sexist? goes undercover to expose the truth of sexism in Australia in 2018.
Crossing Australia from Perth to Sydney, the pivotal part played by the transcontinental railway line in linking the far-flung west coast with the eastern states is explored, including how the rail impacted Indigenous Australians on the Nullabor Plain, the new colony of South Australia, and the Indigenous trade route of the Blue Mountains.
Viewers are taken on a three-hour journey by boat from Broome to Darwin to experience the breathtaking coastline of open seas, bays, basins, islands and estuaries. The journey is also jam-packed with incredible cultural discoveries, like Aboriginal cave paintings, Japanese pearlers, a Filipino missionary, shipwrecks and modern mining.
Crossing Australia from Perth to Sydney, the pivotal part played by the transcontinental railway line in linking the far-flung west coast with the eastern states is explored, including how the rail impacted Indigenous Australians on the Nullabor Plain, the new colony of South Australia, and the Indigenous trade route of the Blue Mountains.
Travelling by boat from Broome to Darwin, this route in Australia’s top end is a breathtaking coastline of open seas, bays, basins, islands and estuaries. This area is dubbed ‘Australia’s last great witness’ and surprising stories of multicultural history abound - from Aboriginal cave paintings to Japanese pearlers, a Filipino missionary to a proposed Jewish refuge from the Nazis, Vietnamese boat people, WWII bombings, shipwrecks, and modern-day mining.
SBS coverage of the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
Part one of Algeria From Above is the first documentary introducing the country totally from above. Arthus-Bertrand's eye and co-director Yazid Tizi enable us to to discover this spectacular country embracing exceptional cultural and natural riches. From North to South, from West to East the director’s show us people's daily life,
We’re back under the eagle eye of filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand to view the lesser known yet rich, undulating landscape of Algeria, bordering Morocco’s east. We follow the daily lives of people in all its disparate corners – the coastal capital of Algiers, the Atlas Mountains, desert oases and the hills of the Sahel, a biogeographic zone where the Sahara to the north meets the Sudanian savannah to the south.
Seeking to remind us about the sea's history and inspire us to preserve it. The cradle of human civilization, today the Mediterranean region is home to 427 million people and 24 countries. In this film, shot entirely from the air, the Mediterranean is seen only from the sky, exploring even its most inaccessible countries such as Libya, Lebanon, Egypt and Algeria. This aerial journey directs its focus on the role the natural world plays in this paradise for curious explorers. The Mediterranean is home to mountain ranges that tower over plains and estuaries, as well as deserts and the sea. Warning: you may want to book your next holiday after viewing this two-part series. The Mediterranean is abundant in so many ways – ethnically, religiously, culturally. Three major religions were born here. It’s also the world’s most densely populated region and the scene of countless battles in its wartorn history.
Every day on Earth, around 30 volcanoes violently erupt. By meeting the people and wildlife that live alongside the planet's volcanoes, we reveal the ways in which they affect life on Earth.
Take a look behind the scenes of the most legendary cabaret in the world and hear the story of the artists who define the spirit of the Moulin Rouge. Established in 1889, the Moulin Rouge is known as the birthplace of the can-can dance and is one of France’s most well-known tourist attractions and entertainment venues. Famed for the red windmill on the roof it was immortalised in Baz Luhrmann’s famous film and in the paintings of Toulouse-Latrec.
SBS’s next iteration of slow TV will take viewers into Australia’s multicultural and Indigenous history via an exploration of the country's most popular chocolate company - Cadbury. This three-hour documentary will take a ‘paddock-to-plate’ approach by following the chocolates’ journey from the raw ingredients - the idyllic dairy farms of Tasmania and the sugar plantations of tropical North Queensland - to the factory floor, where the audience will be immersed and mesmerised in the melting, rolling, drying, shaping and wrapping that goes into making Easter eggs and bunnies.
We follow legendary Australian comedian Fiona O’Loughlin as she returns to the world of stand-up comedy. After fighting publicly with an alcohol addiction for many years, Fiona ended up in a coma battling for her life. Doctors determined Fiona only had a 13% chance of survival. Miraculously, Fiona made it out alive. At the end of 2015, Fiona ended up in a long-term rehab and wrote a letter to her best friend Sammy. By the time she returned to Melbourne, they had agreed to make a documentary together following her return the stage.
Local Algerois Djihad Mahamdi tours the Tuareg-inspired Cathedral of Sacre Coeur while fellow guide, Nehad Benz, explores the Ottoman-refined Casbah
In Oran, resident Zaki Souffi goes shopping in the jedida market. He visits the home of the city's most eminent emigre. Yves Saint Laurent, and has a local snack of karantika.
The great desert is an arid but varied landscape where cultures, both religious and nomadic, have adaped to the unforgiving climate over thousands of years.
A slow TV showcase of Australia's most stunning landscapes, from the Torres Strait to Tasmania and everywhere in between, we pay tribute to that which gives us life: Country.
Cairo, March 2017 - construction workers make a spectacular discovery beneath metres of rubble. At the bottom of a deep pit, buried in mud and debris, lies an enormous crowned stone head. Nearby the torso and plinth. These are the remains of a colossal quartzite statue, 9 metres high and weighing several tons. It’s an archaeological sensation, a clear indication that this was once the heart of an ancient, legendary metropolis - Heliopolis.
Could Australia ever have been French? The English certainly thought so. Through revolution, empire and restoration, late 18th and early 19th century France maintained an unwavering commitment to research and discovery in the Pacific region and in Australia. More interested in science than in new colonies, these early French voyages, led by commanders like Bougainville, Lapérouse, D’Entrecasteaux, Baudin, Freycinet, Duperrey and Dumont d’Urville, were the first to name, describe and beautifully illustrate many Australian species. England may have colonised Australia, but for many years it was France that understood it best. This richly illustrated short documentary film brings to life our fascinating and colourful French history and reminds us of a time when scientific research involved intrepid voyages in tall ships on the high seas, battling scurvy and storms, insects and rats, and hostilities both on board and on shore.
While travelling through Bangladesh, from the Southern Bengal’s bay to the 'Chars' - those Northern precarious Islands, through Dacca or Chittagong - the largest Graveyard in the world, the film features the country’s crucial fight against climate change and its destiny hanging by a thread.
Travel through contemporary France and turn back the clock to discover an extraordinary past. An unsuspected legacy is suddenly revealed - how did a simple lagoon make it possible for journeymen to build the Chambord castle, why wouldn’t Champagne exist were it not for an immense, prehistoric ocean, how is the fate of coal miners intimately tied to a strange, subterranean jungle? A marvelous tale, somewhere between dream and reality, offering an alternative history of France that takes an off-beaten trail into the dawn of time.
Two boys are waiting in the Tower of London for their big day of celebration. The older boy is just 12 years old in the summer of 1483 and is to be crowned King of England. But suddenly doubts arise among the nobles about the succession to the throne and his uncle receives the crown. After the coronation, the two young heirs to the throne disappear from the face of the earth. Have they been kidnapped or murdered? The new King Richard III remains silent on the matter. But the doubts about his accession to the throne remain. In the 17th century, bones are found during building work, confirming the old suspicion against Richard III as a child murderer. What happened to the two boys in the Tower? A cold case from the age of the knights in England, in which numerous new clues have been found in recent years.
Stretching some 21,196 kilometres across the sweep of Northern China and delineating the edge of the Mongolian Steppe, the Great Wall of China is a staggering feat of engineering and ingenuity – a vast system of fortifications unrivalled by any other human construction. Seeing the entire wall is a massive undertaking, but that’s exactly what the new UK documentary Great Wall of China: The Making of China proposes to do, starting in the East at Old Dragon’s Head in the small town of Shanhaiguan in Hebei province, on the shore of the Bohai Sea, to the distant deserts of Ningxia in the far West. It’s a fascinating voyage, with chatty host John Nettles (Midsomer Murders) apprising of the Wall’s colourful history and current conditions along the way.
In Southern Spain, in the heart of Andalusia, lies an extraordinary treasure - The Fortress of Alhambra. Built more than 800 years ago by the Nasrids - an Arab dynasty that ruled over the region - it was erected as a military stronghold, surrounded by 2,000 meters of ramparts, and protected by 29 towers. But behind its austere facade, Alhambra conceals sumptuous palaces, patios embellished with fountains and basins, and above all, extremely refined decorations that cover almost every part of the buildings. In this arid region, you will discover the engineering treasures that the builders had to develop to face the heat of suffocating summers, as well as the impressive hydraulic network with many unique devices to provide the city with water.
A new international hotspot is bustling with energy in south-eastern China - Yiwu. It is the starting point of the longest train connection of the world, crossing Eurasia to Madrid, and the centre of trade.
A stone’s throw from the iconic Cheops pyramids, another famous man-made creation rises, towering over the Giza Plateau - The Grand Egyptian Museum. The construction of this ultra-modern building of unprecedented proportions, stretching over 117 acres, was recently finalised. With its 20 years of construction punctuated with pitfalls and dead ends, 5000 daily onsite workers and 1-billion-dollar budget, it is the biggest construction site the world has ever seen. Welcome to the biggest museum in the world.
In this sumptuous docu-drama, we lift the lid on the salacious activities of the aristocratic elite of the Georgian period, revealing that marriages were about money, love came at a price, and to get to the top, some Georgians had to get on top.
On the east coast of Japan sit towns abandoned by humans since 2011’s fateful nuclear disaster at Fukushima. It’s an area thought no longer suitable for life, though the animals residing there beg to differ. In this one-hour special, we venture into life in a nuclear disaster zone, following an international group of experts investigating the animals who defy all odds and thrive despite the toxic landscape. Watch as we try to understand the wild, dangerous and the surprising in Fukushima: Nature In The Danger Zone.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the most important religious journeys for millions of people around the world. But how to get there? This documentary shows us how 12 companies met the immense challenge of running a high-speed train through Saudi Arabia’s sandy rocky desert in temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius. A true marvel of engineering and cooperation, and together, overcoming obstacles.
One of history’s great puzzles is how the Maya established such a remarkable civilisation in a tropical rainforest over two thousand years – and then vanished. The fall of the Maya civilisation in southern Mexico is a dramatic and horrifying tale of power, god-kings, climate change, battle, despair, and increasing sacrifice. The astonishing story of the collapse of the ancient Maya kings may be revealed – by the ancient Maya themselves – thanks to new science and discoveries.
All roads lead to Rome - or more precisely to its most iconic landmark - the Colosseum. Built under Emperor Vespasian in the 1st century CE, this magnificent monument, spanning two thousand years of history, is an emblem of the power of a bygone empire. With over seven million visitors a year, its massive structure and awesome architecture testify to the genius of ancient Roman building techniques, earning it a place not only among UNESCO’s world heritage sites, but as one of the new seven wonders of the world.
In 1478, Italy is shaken by the momentous assassination of the banker's son Giuliano de Medici. The Medici are the most powerful family in Renaissance Florence, dominating politics and the economy. Florence Kasumba and her team investigate the motives and those behind the assassination. By deciphering secret documents, the last accomplices can now be unmasked – Pope Sixtus IV.
Vincent van Gogh lived a life between genius and madness - until he killed himself. Or was it a homicide? For more than 100 years, the world has believed that the artist took his own life. However, biographer Steven Naifeh disagrees. 27 July 1890: Van Gogh arrives at his inn in the evening, bleeding, shot in the stomach. Florence Kasumba uncovers surprising details.
In 1963, Sean Connery bursts onto the screen as James Bond in 'Dr. No', the first episode of a saga that is destined to become legendary. With the secret agent tuxedo, the poor kid from the streets of Edinburgh becomes a global star. The role of James Bond brings Sean Connery fame and fortune. It also becomes his burden. For a long time, the actor seeks to break away from his image of 007, to play more cerebral characters. A slow and difficult emancipation, which he lives as a real quest for himself.
In August 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe died under mysterious circumstances. Official cause of death: 'probable suicide'. But many things point to murder: a too beautifully draped corpse, capped investigations, missing clues. In addition, Marilyn's affairs with the then President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby. The film star also threatened to divulge intimate and political details. Did this spell her doom? New evidence may be contained in the ominous Box 39 in the UCLA archives.
Providing the scuba diving experience to the younger generation is more than just an ideology. What it is about is simply making a start to give them the gift of knowledge and ability. To provide them an extremely rare opportunity to experience their first breath beneath the surface.
Sydney's Northern Beaches, from Manly to Palm Beach, are one of the most iconic and stunning stretches of coastline on the planet. Post Covid, they are also one of the safest coastlines to explore. We join Lachlan Walmsley, dive instructor, as he explores the oceans off-shore, through the eyes and narrative of its locals.
With the decoding of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Jean-François Champollion solved one of the greatest mysteries in human history. However, he did not accomplish this feat alone but alongside his eldest brother.
In the 18th century, London is the biggest city in the world, a global centre for trade, manufacturing and industry. Bigger and richer than ever before, there is money to spend.
Water is the lifeblood of Venice, but it also threatens its foundations. During the pandemic, experts and inhabitants were able to combine their know-how to repair their city and prepare it for the next floods.
An exploration of Autun, a small town in Burgundy with a quiet appearance, which has a well-established past. It was one of the largest and most spectacular capitals of Roman Gaul.
Canals are impressive masterpieces of human engineering. This is an exploration of three historically and economically relevant waterways in France, which are among the world's most well-known canals.
Megabridges: Spanning The Void is dedicated to a selection of spectacular and pioneering milestones in the art of engineering. This ranges from the Pont du Gard of Roman times to the French TGV high-speed train. The documentary looks at gigantic dams, navigable canals, kilometre-long tunnels that cross mountains and seas, and the Millau Viaduct, the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. It provides insights into the construction and operation of these icons of progress.
An exploration of how technology with the help of constructions and machines has made the world accessible.
An insight into Vauban, and how its 160 fortresses still draw land and sea borders, three centuries after their construction.
Marc Fennell investigates the successful, but scandal-plagued megachurch Hillsong, stepping back into the world of Pentecostalism that he left behind and asking what happens as the Hillsong kingdom crumbles.
Named Bibracte, it is the most significant oppidum in all of Gaul. Aedui, a Gallic tribe friendly to the Romans, settled there and constructed a fortified city. Can you imagine this ancient metropolis of 10,000 people? How did they manage to construct such strong defences when no other Gallic city had them at the time? How did archaeologists read ancient wooden artefacts that had been worn down by the passage of time? How come the Aedui just up and left their capital? Evidence of rapid Romanisation, such as a forum, a basilica, and a sophisticated hydraulic system, is about to be revealed thanks to state-of-the-art LIDAR-enabled topographic maps and breathtaking computer-generated imagery. Bibracte is still a massive excavation site, and its remnants continue to disclose ancient mysteries. Archaeologists, in the role of true investigators, have uncovered evidence of the ancient tribe’s cunning and brilliance during a pivotal time in the Roman Gallic age.
Explores the temples of Philae, an iconic Egyptian Ptolemaic-era attraction, which now stand as one of the last bastions of ancient Egyptian religion.
Examines how the Vatican spawned around Saint Peter's tomb and the process behind the construction of some of its architectural marvels and monuments.
Where did the Inca people come from, how were they organised and why did they disappear so suddenly? Recent archaeological exploration has allowed researchers to
Looks at the engineering of the Knights Templar, the religious order that marked the rise of the Middle Ages, and their amazing buildings in the west of Europe.
Explores three supertunnels that were once impossible to build, including the Mont Cenis Tunnel, the Eurotunnel and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. All three of these tunnels are examples of some of the biggest engineering endeavours ever undertaken by man.
A Jewish boy witnesses the murder of his family and survives the Holocaust by becoming Hitler's youngest soldier. He has had four false names, and is now on the cusp of discovering his true identity after 30 years of searching. During the Second World War, Alex Kurzem says he recalls watching from a tree as his entire village, including his family, were murdered by an execution squad. Having escaped certain death by fleeing into the frozen woods of Belorussia, Alex says he survived for several months before being captured and taken in by a Latvian battalion that was later incorporated into the SS.
Dr Paul Liknaitzky, head of Australia's first clinical psychedelic laboratory, investigates if psychedelic-assisted therapy can effectively treat General Anxiety Disorder in a two-year-long clinical trial.
The world is fascinated by the Pyramids of Giza. Even today, Egyptologists are still working hard to reveal the mysteries behind these stone giants built over 4,500 years ago. The master builders of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure surely had a certain level of understanding and expertise. Were they inspired by the world around them, Nature, the sun, even the stars? This documentary explores various theories and recent global advances in Archaeology and Egyptology, Astronomy and Astrophysics, deciphering the clues left behind on the Giza Plateau by the Ancient Egyptians in order to prove that they left nothing to chance and that these three pyramids are in fact deeply connected to the cosmos.
